Coach kept thousands of indecent images of boys

A children's gymnastics coach who was found with more than 17,000 indecent images has been jailed.

Aaron Strachan was arrested after Cambridgeshire Police found images, mainly of pre-pubescent boys, on his phone after receiving a tip-off in 2024.

The 26-year-old, who was arrested in Sapley, Huntingdon, but moved to Preston, initially denied any knowledge of the images, but on the day of his trial pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images of children and one count of distributing an indecent image or video.

Strachan was sentenced to three years and four months in prison at Cambridge Crown Court on Friday.

Police said that of the 17,147 images found, 5,039 were category A - the most serious - 6,028 were category B, and 6,080 were category C.

On his phone, there were also 56 group chats from a messaging app where indecent images were requested and shared, including by Strachan, the force said.

During police interview, Strachan said he had no idea how the material got on his device, claiming he could have left his phone unlocked and that someone else could have accessed it at work.

However, officers found evidence that the images were downloaded, viewed and shared at various times of day and night across several months.

Det Con Matthew Walshe, who investigated, said: "Strachan was found with many indecent images of pre-pubescent boys, while working as a gymnastics coach teaching boys of a similar age.

"While none of the children in the indecent images on Strachan's phone have been found to be children he knew or worked with, every one of those 17,147 images represents a child who was sexually abused or exploited."

Strachan was also made the subject of a sexual harm prevention order for 20 years and was ordered to sign the sex offenders register indefinitely.

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